Vessel and method of handling same



g- 1946- v A. M. M DOUGALL VESSEL AND METHOD OF HANDLING SAME Original Filecj. Aug. 13, 19 45 h lnmhK h\ w/ A R I 4 x 4 a 0 I 1' w A5 Q m I Q r3 Q m Q Q 3 ,n 1

Emfomv Patented Aug. 20, 1946 1 a VESSEL AND METHOD OF HANDLING SAME Alexander M. McDougall, .San Francisco, Calif.

. Substitute for abandoned application Serial No.

498,546, August 13, 1943. August 21, 1944, Serial No. 550,380

This application 4 Claims. (01. li t-i 12) 1 Q i 'This application is a substitute for'abandoned application Serial No. 498,546, filed August 13, 1943, and relates to vesselsand method of loading and/or unloading same and'has special reference to that type of ship, for example, as illustrated in my U. S. Patent No.- 1,913,207 designed especially for carrying vehicles such as railroad cars, automobiles and other forms of rolling stock.

- One'of the principal objects is to provide novel means for most convenient transfer of such cargo from one deck of the vesselto another in the process of loading or discharging cargo.

.The other principal: object is that of proper utilization of Water ballast in-lo-ading and/or 'unloading the cargo of the vessel, so that these twofeatures combined may result as nearly as possible in the perfection of what might well be termed a self-cargo-handlingmulti-deck carferry.

Other objects and advantages-will appear in the further description of the invention.

Referringnow to the accompanying drawing forming art of this-application and in which like reference characters indicate like parts: Figure 1 is a broken sideelevation of a vessel such as referred .to in my former patent supra and.

illustrative of. a. vessel having three, or more spaced decks available for cargo space. V

Figure .2. is a broken plan view, of the intermediate or so-called tween deck, and

: Figure 3. is an enlarged broken vertical ;sec-

tional view of the novel combined ramp-and bridge and their cooperative relation to the spaced deCkS,-

It is to-be understood that the invention here claimed does not involve any specific details of construction but rather the cooperation of the novel elements with a certain type of ship or vesseL; andmam'pulation ofgthe latter in handling of cargo as well as conservation of cargo space within the vessel.

In order to accomplish this it is obvious that any of the vehicles forming the cargo of the vessel that are to be carried upon the tank top deck I, must, if rampedv to or from same be accomplished as nearly as possible to the place of entry to the vessel, which in this instance is at the stern. Thus my illustrating the combined ramp and bridge as far aft as possible and upon either one or both sides of the after cabins and compartments in the center of the vessel for machinery, et cetera.

Furthermore, it is well known to be essential that a watertight bulkhead be maintained just forward of the boiler compartments and interthereof leading over the necessary bracketed mediate of the tank top I. and tween deck 5, thus the ramp, if well aft as illustrated, will extend about equally .fore and aft of such bulkhead. Consequently, I. have divided the ramp into a stationary portion 2 within. the forward cargo hold above the tank top and the pivotally adiutsable portion 3, aft of said bulkhead they being normally when in cooperative position, on the same inclinedplane a clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawing.

Now to provide head room andsuflicient clearance for railroad cars,. forrexample, above the.

stationary portion 2 of the ramp, and still sacrifice as little storage space as possible on the tween deck, I provide a bridge section 4 of the tween deck-5 pivotally, mounted as at O and which section, when raised, as shown, amply affords the To provide such, novel cooperation of a ships" decks for, the movement of cargo, I have connected the two otherwise free ends of the section 3 and 4 as by a single line 6 upon either side and spaced sheaves I and 8 suspended from the next deck -9 above, which may as shown, in Fig-- ure 1, be the main deck.

In thisv manner, and when in suspension the "above same, for example, as by laterally extending transverse beams indicated at I0 which may rest within recesses H formed therefor in the sides of the opening into which the bridge fits.

The ramp section 3 pivoted at I2 is shown as provided with supporting bents l3 and which may be removable if desired and the space otherwise occupied or additional temporary supports may be mounted thereupon to insure the necessary stability for the section 3 when in its raised position and acting as a portion of the deck to which it is pivoted.

For convenient movement of this ramp section I have shown a fluid cylinder l5 vertically disposed and provided with a piston rod l6 pivotally attached to the ramp 3 so that'any predetermined form of fluid power may be utilized for raising or lowering the section, which obviously, by virtue of the line 6 connections before described, will simultaneously move the bridge section 4.

itsmovement;

Now the matter of maintaining the watertight bulkhead just forward of the boiler compartment which is required for safety in such vessel construction, I have provided the'arcuately shaped closure l1 depending from and fixed to the free end of the ramp section 3, the same being formed to line up and overlap the adjacent marginal edges oftheopening in said bulkhead ecessary forthe passage of cargo. A permanent-portion of the bulkhead is shown at l8 and as forming the after terminus of th fixed portion 2 of thei ramp and it is deemed obvious thatxany form of suitable temporary watertight connection of the closure portion of the rampmay be resorted 1 to, such as greased water-tight guides, or if (16- r sired, bolted for temporary security,.as is:com- 1 'mon in many parts of ship construction.

While the ramping of cars fore and aft on shipboard is old as suggested. in my former patent supra as well as others, the instant invention makes use of whatT-is commonly referred, to. as 1 water-"ballast space during :thelQading andA-or unloading of such a. ship:.designed especiallylas 1 a car 1 ferry, or for transporting rolling; stock which is susceptible rFor-this purpose 1 provide. in conjunction with or; trimming tanks as at: 2 I; inthe'foreepeakthereof and at 22 in the stern as indicated in. Figures 1.

to; the .forceoi gravityduring.

a--ship,ias'.here .describedauxiliarywater space;

and-2 so-thatthe same may: be employed int-he dlin-g of the rolling cargo such as illustrated 3 either whent'nerampis being usedor not.

It'is well known that'vesse'ls of this type. in

whichthe-boilers and enginescarev well aft nor- 7 mally. remain .trimmedby the: stern, that is with 1 the stern or heavier after portion much deeper in.

1 thewater than the bow and-what known as water ballas-t I space is provided the entire. length. '1 of the ship belowthetank-top-deck- I, suchspace being divided into suitable compartments. fore andaft by-certainof the tr-ansverse girders below the; tank top being formed into Watertight bulkheads, I

1 Thesevarious compartments are, of course, connected up'tO the ballast handling pumps and piping system not shown; of; the ship and selec- I tively operable for desirednavigabilitythereof; However; in this instance 'I- propose' touse such compartments inccnjunetion-witnthe novelaum iliary' compartments just described to expediteloading or unloading of the ship by changing-"the rar and aft inclination thereof, thus utilizing j gravity int-hemovement of cars therein.

'F'romthe foregoing it is apparent "that I have i devised novel and simple "meansfor assistance in ithehandling of cargo :as'well asutilizingthemaximurn-capacity' of that type of vessel illustrated longitudinal trimming. oil the ship to assist-in hanin my former patent supra and my other U. S.

Patents Nos. 1,772,612; 1,773,368; and Re, 18,350 with a view of augmenting their successful and economical operation. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

L'In: a car-ferry vessel'iof' the type described having a plurality of parallel decks including a tween deck, an adjustable section of saidtween deck pivotally attached at its after end in a plane with the normally :remaining portion thereof and lowerable to function as a part of a ramp to the deck below same, a fixed section of ramp upon: saidlower deck and cooperatively engage- ..able with-the movable end of said adjustable section, and a second adjustable section of said tween deck directly above said fixed section pivotally attached at its forward end in a plane with said remaining ortion whereby -.to provide; ampie heads-room for obiectspassing ineither directionthereunder when. raised .andmeans connecting the free-ends of. said: tweendeck sec, tions: whereby to insure theirope'rationiin unison,

2. A combined,bridgezandrampafor a car-terry,

V of the type describedhavin-g a'tween-deck and-ea;

tank top deck comprising, :a. track; carrying. portion of said tween deck being hingedly' supported at. one'end to a 'fixed.;portiq ;of..-saidtween deck. and swingabledownwardly iromthe-normalplane thereof and a like portion normally-forming; a

continuationgof said tween ;de,ckqalso hingedly supported at its; remote terminus; from: said other portion, and meansconnecting: the-:free ends of.

means to insure; the .freeendS. of-xsaid sections moving in; opposite. directions when; operatedland each counterbalancing the weight. of: the other 41 An adjustable combined bridge: and ramp. unit for a car-ferry of :thestype. described having an upper-anddowerdeck inthe hold thereotcomprising, two normally a-butting sect-ionsuof said? upper deck 'beinghinged at their remote termini and movable verticallyin opposite directions at thei'radjacent ends, the one: to act as an open.

closure for said ramping space and the other to act as-a ramp :for said cars'and'means cooperatively uniting the free -end's of said sections to insure-said verticalmovement in -mg posite directionsi .7 

